Bicycles/Maintenance and Repair/Appendix/Moulton

Moulton Bicycles
Draft - not yet ready for public use
A Guide to Choosing, Riding and Maintaining a Moulton Bicycle

This wikibook is a repository for information on the care and maintenance of Moulton bicycles. It was set up in early April 2015 following a discussion on the Moultoneers Yahoo Group on the need for a persistent, easy-to-access repository for the collective knowledge and enthusiasm of Moultoneers. All who have experience in maintaining Moultons that might be of use to others are urged to contribute. As for Wikipedia, the content is entirely copyright free and editing facilities are open to all.

The information here is contributed entirely by volunteers who take no responsibility for its accuracy nor accept liability for any loss or injury incurred as a result of using the information it contains.

If you come across anything that you don't understand, please do leave a message on the relevant discussion page, and a contributor will get back to you. If you're having trouble, chances are someone else is too. If you have something to contribute to this wikibook, please read the Bicycles/Contributors page for guidelines and then edit boldly.

Introduction

Moulton is an English bicycle manufacturer based in Bradford on Avon (BoA) in Wiltshire. The company was founded in 1962 by Dr Alex Moulton to design and manufacture a range of innovative bicycles noted for their unconventional frame design, small wheels and front and rear suspension. All but one of the models carrying the Moulton name have been manufactured in the United Kingdom and were designed primarily by Alex Moulton as evolutions of a very effective design format. Production continues and current models are entirely up-to-date in both design and componentry.

Model descriptions

Descriptions of the many different models that have been produced by the Moulton Bicycle Company, previous Moulton companies, and its licencees since 1962. This section aims to cover all of the main models with descriptions of their designs and other key features. Most of the models share much of their engineering design, so detailed descriptions of the main engineering features and maintenance procedures for them are covered in separate sections which related to the model descriptions by cross referencing links.

Original Moulton (OM, F-Frame), 1962 - 1973

1. Series 1
2. Series 2
3. Mark III

BoA space frames Moultons introduced up to 1998

1. AM2
2. AM5
3. AM7
4. AM14
5. AM Jubilee
6. AM-SPEED
7. AM-GT Stainless
8. AM Jubilee-L & Jubilee-L Stainless
9. ATB

• A Family Tree of Moulton Bicycle Frames to 1999 has been prepared by Moulton historian Tony Hadland for anyone interested in more detail. Accessed on 2015/04/04, archive link.
• A number of the original sales brochures from the Alex Moulton range have been scanned. Accessed on 2015/May/08.
• The Veteran Cycle Club Library includes a number of Moulton resources including catalogues, brochures and links to videos. Accessed on 2015/June/02.

BoA space frame Moultons introduced since 1999

1. Modern AMs
2. New Series (NS) – including Pylons
3. Esprit
4. Moulton Speed
5. Moulton Jubilee 50 LE
6. Moulton Jubilee

Pashley space frame Moultons

1. APB and derivatives
2. TSR and derivatives

Bridgestone Moultons

1. Fixed Frame and Separable models

Moulton-specific engineering features - descriptions and maintenance guidelines

Front suspension

1. Sliding spline
2. Leading link
3. Flexitor
4. Scissor link

Rear suspension

1. Series 1 & 2 swing arm
2. Mk III, AM & ATB/APB rear triangle
3. TSR unified rear triangle
4. NS unified rear triangle + hydrolastic spring

Separable frames

1. OM Stowaway joint
2. AM and NS kingpin joints
3. APB and TSR kingpin joints

Other Moulton-specific components

Tires - Tyres

• 16" nominal diameter for most Original Moultons (ETRTO 349 mm) – Minis use nominal 14" dia.
• 17" nominal diameter for AM range (ETRTO 369 mm) - except certain post 2012 AMs built to take 20" tyres
• 20" nominal diameter for ATB/APB/TSR (ETRTO 406 mm)
• 20" Narrow section for NS models (ETRTO 406 mm)
• 500A (ETRTO 440 mm) tires were used on the first APB 3
• A spreadsheet has been prepared by Yahoo list members listing 20" (406) tire options for Moultons with user comments on various tires.
• Some other details and possible substitutions include: The 500A format was used by the first narrow tyre APBs, such as the APB3. 349 format wheels work well on bikes made for 369 (with longer reach caliper brakes). 451 is feasible on at least some APBs.
• Tony Hadland has put together a comprehensive list of Tyres made specifically for Moultons covering all models.

Moulton Rack and Carrier options

A spreadsheet has been prepared by Yahoo list members of the various Moulton Rack and Carrier Weights

Cable Splitters

Alex Moulton AM7 was originally fitted with a stainless "demount plate" that separated the rear brake cable and also held the rear shift lever. This came off with the 6mm Allen key (stored under the saddle) and could be bolted to a threaded washer on the rear frame half.

On later models with front derailleur a Sachs disconnect was used along with a bar-con style of change lever on the handlebar end.

Eventually, stainless steel threaded disconnects were used for all cables passing the frame split. Different types have been made with customary and Metric threaded grub/set screws, it's important to use the correct Allen key. These have small O-rings to prevent damage to the paint. The O-rings often crack and fail, replacement with Viton O-rings seems to last longer. Protecting the frame next to the cable connectors with heavy tape is another option.

AM were very early in the market with strong cable disconnects (suitable for high brake cable tension). Since then a number of similar products have come on the market. The following is taken from Cable Connectors/Seperators ? I thought about playing around with some one of these SRAM Klemmhülse Fixierhülse für Spectro T3 Nabe Neu

image

SRAM Klemmhülse Fixierhülse für Spectro T3 Nabe Neu in Sporting Goods, Cycling, Bike Components & Parts | eBay

but that just seems like too much hard work. The Moulton ones seem out of stock but these should do the job ? Thorn Cable Connector for Bare Inner Wire Gear - £13.27

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Thorn Website - Click Here - opens a new browser windowNo Instructions Available View on www.sjscycles.co.uk

I note there are two versions and a third short one for V brakes. Will the one above (seems the same at the Moulton one but black) do for brake and gear cables or should I get the one with two grub screws for the brake cable ?

Not cheap :(

Projects and upgrades

Gearing and driveline

• General comments -- easy to get low gears
• Hub gear swaps
• Speed/Mountain drive (in bottom bracket)
• Belt drive with various hub gears
• Front derailleur addition to single chainring models
• Options for rear cogs and clusters
• * Shimano Capreo notes: standard Capreo cassette is 9-10-11-13-15-17-20-23-26T which is OK, but the jump from 11T to 13T gives an inconvenient cadence gap. Bike guru Sheldon Brown suggested that the smallest four cogs can't be changed on Capreo, but counter examples are given at on this folding bike forum and in this discussion that describe how to get 9-10-11-12-13...
• Chainkeeper a useful addition for single chainring models -- see this brief review (URL checked June 2016)
• Replace MkIII bottom bracket (Raleigh thread) with modern Shimano -- see this Moultoneer's approach (URL checked February 2017)